Coach says defensive execution the problem
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
After a strong first half last week against Evansville, the East Troy High School girls basketball team found itself in a difficult position.
If the Trojans sat back in a zone, Evansville knocked down shots – play man to man, and the Blue Devils were likely to draw a foul.
And it was at the free-throw line where Evansville made its living.
East Troy held a 37-32 halftime lead but was outscored by 13 the final 18 minutes in a 77-69 Rock Valley Conference setback.
The loss dropped the Trojans to 3-4 overall and 1-4 in the RVC heading into a game Monday night at McFarland. Results of that contest were unavailable by press time.
“We couldn’t stop fouling them,” East Troy coach Jeff Brown said. “They shot 28 free throws in the second half.”
The issue had nothing at all to do with effort, but more with execution on the defensive end of the court, Brown said.
“They’re playing hard,” he said. “I can’t give them any grief for that. They’ve been busting their fannies all year.
“Now we just have to figure out how to get a little bit better. Young kids are going to learn (how to do that).”
In the first half, the Trojans turned to their lone senior, Katrina Santos, to once again lead the way.
Santos, who led the way with 24 points and 18 rebounds, did plenty of damage inside.
“Kat had a good first half,” Brown said. “We did a little bit better job controlling them on defense and we shot pretty well.
“The kids are doing a pretty good job of getting (Santos) the ball. Evansville is sort of small. The second half, she got in a little bit of foul trouble, and that hurt her a little bit.”
Other leaders included Maddie Rosin (11 points, six assists), Ashley Weber (nine points, five assists), Erin Rice (nine points, five assists), MacKenzie Lindow (eight points) and Callie Vogel (six rebounds).
Weber continues to develop her game, especially on the offensive end, Brown said.
“Ashley had a few good moments on offense for us,” he said. “Offensively, she can help us a little bit at times.”
After Monday’s game, the Trojans will be idle until Dec. 30, when they host Messmer in a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup.
East Troy has competed at the annual Badger Invitational the past several Christmas breaks, but Brown decided to change up the schedule this year with Messmer.
Brown not a fan of change
Through seven games, you can count Brown as against the decision to move from four eight-minute quarters to two 18-minute halves this season.
“I hate it,” he said. “I think they thought we would be able to play more kids, and what I’ve been seeing, is we’re just playing the starters two more minutes (each half).
“They get in more foul trouble and they get tired. I would rather have the four quarters. We’re playing four more minutes and we didn’t get another foul for each kid.”
Scoring seems to be higher – especially in the boys’ games – but even with the girls, as evidenced by the 146 total points put on the board by Evansville and East Troy.
That may not be as much a factor of the additional time, but the high foul numbers, Brown said.
“You get to shoot more free throws, but I don’t know if that’s a better game,” he said. “I think they were hoping with more flow without the timeout between the quarters. I haven’t been a big fan of it so far.”
Brown added he was surprised the change came about, especially at a time when the women’s college game made the switch from halves to quarters as the same time.
“I didn’t really understand why there was such a big to change it,” he said. “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the game.”
